


intricate rituals

by Anonymous



Series: the knismollymauk agenda [3]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Developing Relationship, First Kiss, M/M, Other, Tickling, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:20:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29458878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: If you push Caleb's buttons just right, you can clip through to the part where he's completely comfortable with physical contact.
Relationships: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Caleb Widogast
Series: the knismollymauk agenda [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2178735
Comments: 15
Kudos: 148
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> thinly veiled excuses all around.

Caleb didn't like physical contact, at first. Well - it overwhelmed him, rather. Molly's pretty sure that the idea of a gentle touch was just entirely too much for that ball of angst in a hobo coat to handle.

But Caleb also has a dry sense of humor and a tiny blink-and-you'll-miss-it smile and an open desire to make friends, and a growing capacity to brush hands, to sit shoulder-to-shoulder or thigh-to-thigh. He isn't all scars. And yeah, okay, maybe Molly has a crush, and maybe it’s kind of dizzy exciting to watch Caleb get more comfortable around him, but he also just wants nice things to happen for people in general and for Caleb in particular. Healing, after all, doesn't happen with big, ground-shaking revelations. It happens with a moment of contentment with a friend here, an hour napping in the sun there, when you suddenly find yourself at ease. And Molly likes watching Caleb discover those moments.

Sometimes he even gets to help.

The thing about the little dome Caleb makes is that it's not that big. Jester grumbles about being cramped, but Molly doesn't mind at all - he's used to sleeping close to people, on the road. Sometimes he stays awake a little later, just to hear them all breathing slow and even around him.

Caleb, by chance, is next to Molly tonight, and he is not breathing slow and even. “Can’t sleep?” Molly whispers, and Caleb jumps.

“Ah - er - clearly.” Molly hums in sympathy, and Caleb adds, “You too?”

“I like listening to people sleep.”

Caleb doesn’t say anything to that. Hmm. That was unfortunate phrasing.

“I mean, listening to their breathing around me,” Molly says. “It’s - comforting, I guess, uh, anyway, why can’t you sleep?”

“To be completely honest,” Caleb says, “I could hear that you weren’t asleep, and it is hard for me to sleep when people are awake around me.”

“Mm, I’m very dangerous lying here in my underwear with Beau’s elbow in my side.”

Caleb rolls his eyes openly. Maybe he’s forgotten that Molly can see. “You are dangerous all the time, Mr. Mollymauk.”

“I’m a sweetheart,” Molly says absently. “Want to go outside?” He has vague thoughts of laying Caleb's coat down on the ground next to the embers of their campfire and then laying Caleb down on it and kissing him silly. He isn't quite sure how he's going to get there yet. He'll workshop it.

“Ah, I can't leave the hut,” says Caleb.

“Right. Damn. Want to make out?” Caleb snorts. Yeah, okay, that would’ve been too easy. “Want to play twenty questions?”

“No.”

“Fair. Want to snuggle for warmth?”

“You’re quite a troublemaker, aren’t you?”

“Now  _ that _ isn’t a no.”

Caleb is silent for a moment, and then elbows him in the shoulder. Molly gasps, in surprise and a little bit of delight at getting a rise out of him, and jabs Caleb’s side-

Caleb jolts away from him with a sharp inhale.

_ Oh? _

A wicked smile crawls over Mollymauk's face, and he knows it's audible in his voice as he purrs, "You're ticklish?"

"No," says Caleb, too quickly.

"Foolish answer," Molly singsongs. "There's no right answer to that question, really. You know I'm going to test it."

Caleb is slowly inching away, and Molly scoots after him until Caleb’s back bumps up against the side of the dome. Molly smirks, remembers humans can’t see in the dark, and lets out a low, dangerous chuckle just for Caleb’s benefit. Caleb swallows, and Molly grabs him without warning, loops his arms around Caleb’s waist, and pulls him in snug to his chest.

And Caleb - doesn’t fight it. Not at all. He’s tense, yes, but Molly isn’t holding him tight enough that he couldn’t get away. And he’s already breathing a little faster.  _ Fascinating. _

Molly decides to explore this by kneading gently at Caleb’s stomach, through his thin cotton shirt. There’s not an ab to be found on the man, and Molly delights in the softness under his nails. Caleb is practically quivering, and when Molly moves to tickle gently at his sides, he lets out an unmistakable choked half-laugh.

Molly smirks. “Oh, you are  _ so _ ticklish.”

He explores all over Caleb’s tummy, and when he pushes up his shirt and flutters his fingertips against Caleb’s bare sides, Caleb spasms all the way down his body.  _ Adorable. _ “Keep your voice down,” Molly whispers into his ear. “You’re going to wake everyone up.”

He squeezes at Caleb’s sides as he says it. Caleb’s legs kick frantically in his blankets.  _ “Mollymauk-” _

“Shh, shh,” Molly soothes. He massages at Caleb’s ribs slowly, and Caleb trembles and twitches in his arms. There’s a series of aborted little squeaks and whimpers, so quiet Molly would miss them if he weren’t so close. He grins and nuzzles into the back of Caleb’s head as he finally stills his hands. “That's quite cute.”

Caleb makes a distressed little noise, but he’s still kind of just lying there, and when Mollymauk goes to pull away, he feels Caleb’s reflexive twitch towards him. “Oh, don’t be so disappointed about it-” and Caleb splutters a little at that, but Molly doesn’t give him a chance to retort- “I just don’t want to wake everyone else up. We can still spoon, don’t worry.”

“I never said I wanted,” says Caleb, and then stops, and then tries again, “Well,” and then again, “I,” and then, “Alright.”

Molly cocks an eyebrow at the back of Caleb’s head. “Only if you want to.” Nothing. Though he’s still not moving away. “Caleb?”

“Yes, I would like that,” says Caleb, sounding tormented.

Molly grins and says, “Oh, I know,” which isn’t strictly true, but he’d had a hunch, and hearing Caleb’s pointed huff is worth it. He buries his face in Caleb’s shoulderblades, enjoying the warmth of another person in his arms as he dozes off.

He’s pretty sure he’s already woken up Beau with his flirting, but, fuck. Worth it.


	2. Chapter 2

Molly thinks about it a lot. He likes tickling, he likes Caleb Widogast. If Molly pushes him too far and Caleb ends up turning the tickling back on him, he’d probably like that too. When the Nein check into an inn a few nights later, he corners Caleb early, while everyone else is still getting started at the bar.

“Come upstairs with me, will you?” he murmurs.

“…Why?” says Caleb cautiously.

“Guess,” Mollymauk tells him. To help him guess, he catches Caleb’s hand in his own, smooths his thumb over the inside of Caleb’s wrist. Caleb looks kind of hunted, so Mollymauk takes pity and adds, “Just want to talk to you a bit.”

Caleb swallows. “Ja. Ja, okay.”

Molly doesn’t let go of his hand as they head upstairs to Caleb’s room. There’s a part of him that’s quietly thrilled by the thought of people seeing them leave together.

Molly shucks off his coat and sits down on the dingy tavern bed. Caleb is still watching him suspiciously, but when Molly pats the blanket next to him, he shrugs off his coat and sits.

“So,” Molly begins. “I have gotten the impression that you kind of liked it when I tickled you.”

Caleb doesn’t have to ask what he’s talking about. He just shoves his face into his hands. Between his fingers, Molly can see him flushing bright crimson. “Oh,” he says. “Hey - hey, it’s okay. I was going to ask if you wanted to do it more.”

He waits patiently while Caleb stammers a bit.

“You’re not saying no,” Mollymauk says after a moment.

“I - no, I am not,” Caleb sighs. He lifts his head out of his hands, glances over at Molly. “I would ask a chance to explain, for the sake of my own embarrassment.”

“I don’t think it’s embarrassing,” says Molly. He takes Caleb’s hand in his again, casual as anything. Anticipation is starting to rise in his chest, and his tail is flicking back and forth with it. “But sure.”

“It has been… some time. Since I knew pleasant touch. And you, you are more forward about it than most.” Caleb glances at him wryly. He’s still kind of red-faced. “To laugh so openly is not unwelcome. But it’s easier to accept touch when - when I feel like I can struggle a bit. Does that make sense? I understand it is somewhat convoluted.”

“So you like it,” Molly prompts. He makes a token effort to bite back his grin.

“Ja, I like it,” Caleb says. He sounds a little strangled.

“So I can tickle you again.”

_ “Yes,” _ Caleb mutters.  _ “‘Just want to talk a bit,’ _ indeed.”

“I had the purest of intentions,” Molly assures him, smile breaking over his face.

“Now  _ that,” _ says Caleb, “is a bald-faced lie.”

“Eh, yeah. C’mere.”

And Caleb does.

Molly gently pushes him down onto the worn pillows and kneels between his legs. It’s pretty intimate, and he kind of wants to kiss him, but that would probably be too much, this soon. Instead, he slides his fingers under the hem of Caleb’s shirt, and starts tickling gently at the bottom of his tummy. He is delightfully hairy.

Caleb squeaks a little, and starts squirming with twitchy little movements as Molly explores over his stomach. He stays gentle for now, watching the smile start to break over Caleb’s face. Caleb manages to meet his gaze, and Molly winks at him as he lightly pinches each of his hipbones. Caleb’s hips jerk up, and a laugh startles up and out of his throat.

“Oh, you are  _ very _ cute,” Molly tells him, smile dancing around his words. Caleb  _ whimpers. _

He squeezes one hipbone, then the other, switching back and forth and watching with fascination. Caleb jerks away from each touch, squirming around under Molly in a way that’s honestly quite distracting. He’s letting out all these hitched, bitten-off giggles, and getting steadily worse at holding them in, which does absolutely awful things to Molly’s sense of restraint. Molly starts scribbling swiftly up and down his sides, sneaking underneath his body to tickle his back a little, and Caleb practically dissolves underneath him.

Molly lays off when Caleb starts hiccupping. He’s leaning over him, and, much to his surprise, Caleb reaches up and wraps his arms around him, pulls him down bodily onto his chest. It takes Molly a moment to realize that Caleb - prickly, awkward Caleb - isn’t trying to restrain him, but to  _ hug _ him.

Molly relaxes down onto his chest, smiling into Caleb's shirt. He can hear Caleb’s heart beating rapidly under his cheek. “Hey there.”

“Mmh,” says Caleb. He nuzzles at Molly’s hair. Molly honestly hadn’t been expecting to get any of this kind of attention, and it’s kind of kicking his  _ own _ heart into high gear, feeling Caleb so pliant and affectionate underneath him. Molly runs warm - the hellish blood at work - so he often feels a little cold, and usually he goes to snuggle with Yasha, but Caleb is surprisingly welcoming, now that he's been softened up.

Caleb rubs Molly's back slowly, and a pleasant shiver works its way down his spine. He feels immensely pleased with himself. "This was such a good idea."

"You… like it, then?"

"Hmm? Of course I like tickling. Most tieflings do. What's not to like?"

"Most of us human folk get a little more embarrassed about it," Caleb tells his hair, with some of said embarrassment lacing his voice.

"Yeah, don't think I've missed you squirming every time I say the word." There's a  _ hurck  _ in Caleb's chest. "Ti-ckl-ing," Molly enunciates, and grins at the noise of distress above his head. "Shame isn't my forte, darling. And I like making you squirm."

“Mm, you are truly wicked,” Caleb murmurs.

“Genetically devilish,” Molly agrees. Speaking of. Sprawled on Caleb's chest, he rests his hands on Caleb's sides, curls his fingers very slowly.

_ "Mollymauk," _ Caleb says, in a voice that's way too suddenly breathless to sound like a warning.

"Yes?" Molly purrs back. He sits up off him, takes a moment to absorb the way Caleb looks all overwhelmed with anticipation, and then walks his fingers up Caleb's ribs and attacks.

Caleb still has his book holsters on. Molly fits his fingers between the leather straps, searching out all the soft ticklish spots at the tops of his ribs and in the hollows of his armpits, and  _ that’s _ what gets Caleb to start really laughing. It bubbles up and pours out of him, and Molly, delighted, redoubles his efforts, poking and wiggling around each of the straps.

When he hits a particularly vulnerable spot, Caleb’s hands fly up, and Molly tenses himself for a scrap. But instead, to Molly’s absolute endearment, Caleb throws his arms over his face, poorly muffling his laughter. And that’s just  _ asking _ for Molly to go for the underarms, so he does, grasping either side firmly and rubbing quick circles with his thumbs. Caleb’s arms slam down to his sides, but Molly just keeps wiggling his fingers, and Caleb tosses his head to one side and then the other, trying in vain to hide his broad smile.

Molly smirks down at him. “Can’t get away, can you?”

Caleb is flushed and rumpled and  _ beaming. _ "I - I'm-"

“Adorable,” Molly supplies, and sneaks in a quick kiss to Caleb’s temple. Then, embarrassed, he claws at Caleb’s ribs before he can ask about it. Caleb  _ shrieks, _ and for the first time, he can’t help but jump away from the tickling.

But Molly is quick and lithe and agile, and Caleb’s the kind of person who mostly stands far away from enemies and hits them with spells. Molly catches him as he flails off to one side and flops down behind him with Caleb's skinny frame trapped in his arms. He snickers against the back of Caleb's neck. "Not so fast, dear."

Caleb wriggles, fruitlessly. Molly takes Caleb’s wrist in one hand, pulls it up over his head. With his other hand, he gets to work on Caleb's ribs, tracing the grooves from the sternum all the way around to the spine. Caleb splutters out protests, but he’s also curling closer to Molly, giving him a faceful of mussed ginger hair. Molly noses into his neck and blows a breath across the bared skin as he tickles at Caleb's side. He is rewarded with a high-pitched  _ ah-! _

Molly, who has never been one to leave an advantage unpushed, gets his lips right in against Caleb's ear, whispering to him just how  _ ticklish _ he is and watching the goosebumps skitter down his neck. Caleb shudders, twisting around in the futile effort to escape Molly's fingers on his side, and then he's twisting around all the way in Molly's arms and kissing him.

Molly lets go of his wrist and kisses back before he even knows what he's doing. He puts his hands on Caleb's waist and is rewarded with a startled giggle against his lips, and Caleb throws his arms around Molly, pulling him close. Molly kisses him with a hunger, and when Caleb draws back, he chases after, stealing yet another kiss.

There must be something in his eyes, because Caleb observes, "You are surprised."

"I didn't think you-" Molly begins, only his voice comes out high-pitched and fluttery and Caleb is chuckling quietly. Molly ducks his head in embarrassment. At least Caleb also sounds a little starry-eyed when he says,

“You are not as subtle as you think, Mr. Mollymauk."

Molly blinks. “I don’t think I’m subtle.”

“…Oh.”

Molly laughs at him and rolls over onto his back, pulls Caleb on top of him and gets to work on kissing him stupid.

“I have a question for you,” says Caleb, when they're catching their breath for a moment.

“Aye?”

“Are  _ you _ ticklish?”

Molly doesn’t even have to answer. Caleb is watching him carefully as he asks, and a tiny, smug smile is on his lips before Molly even opens his mouth. Molly manages an, “Uh-”

“No need,” Caleb interrupts. He’s leaning closer. “What was it you said?  _ There’s no right answer to that question - you know I’m going to test it.” _

Mollymauk can already feel that warm, melty feeling from the kissing dissolving into goosebumps crawling up his spine. Caleb is very near. Molly swallows. Waits.

Waits.

“Uh,” he says, “um, well?”

“Oh,” Caleb says, “I didn’t say  _ when _ I’m going to test it.”

Molly is  _ deathly _ ticklish, and yeah, he kind of likes it, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t make him want to melt out of his skin when Caleb continues,

“It wouldn’t be any fun if you were expecting it, would it?”

And then he  _ winks, _ and Mollymauk is pretty sure he falls in love right then and there.


End file.
